A Nassau County judge on Friday ordered a Queens company to pay back wages to workers who did custodial work at the I-Park Office Complex in Lake Success, according to a release from Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice’s office.
District Court Judge Tricia Ferrel ordered Ashland Building Services Inc. of Queens, to pay $38,264.50 in overtime pay and $56,463.77 in back pay after the company pleaded guilty March 6 to the charge of failure to pay wages, according to the release.
“Hard-working men and women who put in more than 40 hours a week are entitled to be paid overtime,” Rice said in a statement. “My office is dedicated to routing out those employers who cheat their employees out of their hard-earned wages – as well as prosecuting companies who attempt to avoid the Unemployment Insurance Tax by paying workers off-the-books.”
A former worker of Ashland filed a complaint with Rice’s office, the release said, claiming they had been underpaid by the company.
After interviewing several employees of the company, the DA’s office concluded they were underpaid for the custodial work they did at the Lake Success office, the release said.
Ashland underpaid six employees, according to the release, in the amount of $38,264.50.
Ashland was also found to be paying its employees from a off-the-books payroll, which resulted in underpayment to state Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance fund, the release said.
An audit conducted by the state concluded the company missed $56,463,77 in contributions to the insurance fund.
